Gangaur (2, Russel Street, Kolkata)

YUMMRAJ was super impressed with the true blue Gulab Jamun at Gangaur, the way they used to b decades back, unlike the useless variety omnipresent these days. Almost all other sweets were at least good , very good & excellent.

gangaur

Address & other details: If u r coming from Park Street into Russell street, this shop will b on ur right.

Meal for 2: I guess Rs. 80 (coz u cant eat more sweets than that at a time).

Cuisine type : Vegetarian

Disclaimer:All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Description :

At the entrance of Russell Street is a large building with many establishments by Gangaur. A Rajasthani Fine Dine restaurant called Teej, a vegetarian restaurant called Gangaur, a dry fruit shop & a sweet shop. This review is of the sweet shop.

Gangaur Building at Russell street

Long back Gulab Jamuns used to have a character of its own. Very different it used to be, from a similar looking sweet in Kolkata Pantua. While the pantua used to be unidirectionally sweet, the Gulab Jamun used to be sweet but not too much, due to less pores inside it. The outer surface wud b mildly grainy & the ras wud not stand there for long due to the texture. There used to b a hint of salt to give a balanced sweet-salt taste. The center used to have a mawa & pista filling with a strand of kesar. Aromatic Cardamoms used to b present in these sweets. An aromatic cardamom powder used to b there in the middle.

Gulab Jamuns

Alas……………….. not too many people make these any more. From the large chains like Haldirams & Bikanervala to the small roadside sweet shops – a good gulab jamun is almost nowhere to be found these days. I remember my high point in Gulab Jamun last year was at a small town in Madhya Pradesh – Puran Pahalwan Sweet shop , Abdullahganj.

The Gulab Jamun at Kasturi was exactly like the one I remembered. Super good. Exactly the same definition as in 1st para. Loved it & rate it 4.5/5.

cross section of Gulab Jamun

We also tried daal burfis. These were just too good again. These were like laddoos but in square shape with some differences. There seemed to be a mix of something like mawa & a hint of the super dense ras from the grains of the laddoo. Result – An intense taste as soon as the burfi landed in the mouth & a mild splash of a tasty dense liquid inside the mouth. Dry fruits atop the burfi surely added value. I rate this again at 4.5/5

daal burfi

We tried Milk cake here. That was pre-cut into quarter circle shapes with the central part being in darker color. This again had a robust taste – not too sweet but just enough. The texture was daanedaar & thoroughly enjoyable. Loved this again & rate it 4.5/5

Milk cake

We tasted Kheer Kachori too. This was a filling of kachori in a khasta maida cover & then dipped in ras. This was good but not as great as the others. The maida cover cud have been more khasta but was not been that much. The filling was good though but not anything outstanding. I have surely had better elsewhere. I give this 3/5.

Kaju Barfi was thicker than the usual ones. Sweetness was optimum. Flavors & taste of the burfi were very good as well. I give this 4/5.

Overall, the rating of sweets at gangaur averages out to 4.1/5. Loved eating here & returned in 3 days for a big refill. Will keep visiting. Look forward to hearing ur experience.